A tense moment in the sky nearly overshadowed the buildup to Saturday night’s Ole Miss-LSU matchup in Oxford, Mississippi, when a helicopter appeared to come dangerously close to an ESPN camera drone above the stadium.
ESPN had the drone in the air to capture aerial shots of the crowd before kickoff between the No. 8 Rebels and No.
7 Tigers. Then the helicopter swept by, and the footage immediately set off a wave of alarm online as viewers tried to figure out just how close the two aircraft really came to one another.
One social media user who said he was a helicopter pilot weighed in on the clip and called it unsettling. “LSU vs.
Ole Miss. Hard to judge the actual separation from this camera angle, but that helicopter and drone look too close for my comfort,” he wrote.
Others reacted with the same kind of disbelief. “I saw that and thought at first it was some CGI commercial lol,” one fan posted.
Another wrote, “I saw that. Now you are telling me it was real.
Man. Thank God nothing bad happened,” while a third asked, “Did the helicopter pilot know about this or no?
Wow, that was VERY close?”
Another fan suggested the helicopter may have been in the wrong airspace or at the wrong altitude, and also pointed out that ESPN uses strict procedures for its drones.
The scare came only days after a camera helicopter crashed in Los Angeles, killing three people, including the pilot and a reporter.
In this case, the helicopter and drone avoided contact, and the game moved on without further trouble. Ole Miss then gave its fans plenty to celebrate, beating LSU 32-24 on a game-sealing interception in the end zone.
The win carried extra weight for Ole Miss supporters against Lane Kiffin, who returned to Oxford with LSU after leaving the Rebels just before their playoff run last season.
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LSU Fans Have One More Reason To Hate This Ole Miss Loss
Ole Miss left Baton Rouge with a 32-24 win over LSU, and Trinidad Chambliss had plenty to do with it. The Rebels quarterback piled up 363 passing yards, threw two touchdown passes and one interception, and also added a rushing score, turning in the kind of all-around performance that made LSU fans swallow a frustrating home loss.
As if the result itself were not enough, Chambliss gave Tigers fans one more annoyance after the final whistle. In a postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, he let an expletive slip while saying Ole Miss's "Hotty Toddy" cheer, a small moment that only added another layer to an already aggravating night for LSU supporters. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Now Has Two Injury Worries Fans Can't Ignore
LSUs 32-24 loss to Ole Miss was already a frustrating night, and the injury list only added to the concern. Safety Dashawn Spears went down early in the second quarter and was later seen on crutches, while tight end TreyDez Green left in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury after being unable to put weight on his leg.
The Tigers did get a small bit of good news from linebacker TJ Dottery, who was questionable before kickoff but still played and made an impact with five tackles and a pass breakup. Even so, losing two key starters in the same game leaves LSU waiting on answers it could hardly afford to need right now. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffins Family Is Forcing Ole Miss Fans To Confront Something Ugly
The buildup to LSU and Ole Miss has brought the usual noise, but some of it has gone well past football. Lane Kiffins family, including his daughter Landry, has been targeted with inappropriate jokes on social media, a reminder of how quickly rivalry banter can turn ugly when the game is this big. Ahead of a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on ABC, the conversation around this matchup has been complicated by a very different kind of attention.
Layla Kiffin, Lanes ex-wife, posted a message urging kindness, and Landry publicly addressed the offensive comments herself. It is the kind of episode that forces a fan base to confront where the line is, especially when the spotlight on a high-profile coach bleeds into his familys life. The football part of the night still matters, but so does the reminder that not everything attached to a rivalry belongs in the stands or online. [Read more 🡒]